| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| wrldtrv |
Posted - 01/24/2005 : 22:52:30
I'm wondering if the symptoms of Trigger Finger can be considered TMS. I hadn't even considered the possibility until recently because I have had the symptoms (popping, occasional locking, soreness) in my thumb about once a year for as many years as I can remember. It usually seems to go away after a few weeks, but this time it has hung on for almost two months now. It is much better than a month ago, but it's still there. The curious thing is that some days it feels almost normal, and others, sore again.
I actually had an ortho doc look at it last week, but that day I had no symptoms. He said he could give me a cortisone injection if I wanted, but it might not do much if there was no inflammation present. I accepted the cortisone and it seems to have made no difference at all in the symptoms.
Has anyone else experienced these bizarre trigger finger symptoms that come and go? The doc said it was unusual; normally, if you have symptoms they don't go away on their own and when they are treated (cortisone or surgery) they are usually gone for good.
Thanks for your ideas.
Rick |
| 5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| wrldtrv |
Posted - 01/28/2005 : 12:49:48
Kat, I hadn't heard about cortisone weakening the area it is injected in...maybe that applies to injecting into a joint rather than muscle. That would not be a good thing to do very often. As for cortisone, as my doc said, it's a natural substance produced by your own adrenal glands.
Speaking of cortisone, I had an injection for Plantar Fasciitis (foot) a couple of months ago and the problem did seem to go away, but I notice a mile recurrence of pain if I run very much. |
| Tunza |
Posted - 01/26/2005 : 13:00:33
I can't believe this! I am so suggestible! Yesterday I responded to your post Rick and I said that my thumb locks when I use my hairdryer. I always thought it was because my arm was raised up to my head and that somehow caused the tendon to catch (never thought about why or actually thought about it much at all as it doesn't affect my life except a few minutes a day).
Well, after doing that post yesterday I wasn't consciously thinking about my thumb. Sure enough it did it's usual thing when I used the hairdryer (it feels just like what you've described today in reply to Baseball's question). BUT and here's the BIG BUT: Yesterday afternoon I was walking back into work after meeting a friend for a coffee break and it did it a couple of times for no reason!!! I wasn't holding my arm up in the air or anything! I was just adjusting my jacket which I can't remember having induced this locking before.
That is just too much of a coincidence and I'm so thrilled it happened because it is yet more evidence that TMS can cause really "structual" changes temporarily.
I just read Kasja's quote from Nancy Selfridge so now I've had the above experience and gained more confidence I am going to go back to focusing on the psychological and not the physical.
I have been doing some "Journey" work (a form of psychotherapy developed by Brandon Bays) which I am finding quite draining but it is bringing up some surprising issues relating to my childhood that I didn't realise I was holding on to. I may write an example in my next post (it's aa bit embarassing though because my "childhood issues" seem so trivial compared to the ones that some people experienced.
Kat |
| wrldtrv |
Posted - 01/26/2005 : 12:45:08
Trigger Finger is inflammation of the tendon sheath so that tendon rubs or gets stuck as it slides through sheath. The result is finger locking (usually in bent or flexed position, but sometimes in straight or extended position). When you try to move it it may pop or "trigger" free, which can be painful.
Your numbness does not sound like trigger finger. Numbness sounds more like a nerve being affected--either through TMS or something else.
quote:
Originally posted by Baseball65
Hello Worldtraveler
What exactly is Triggerfinger??
One of my Symptoms I've had in the past is a completely numb thumb,all the way up to the wrist.Not painful...more like a scary nuisance...certainly distracting.
The worst it ever got was on a job where I had to sand,by hand ,all day long.When it got so numb I could stick a pin in it,I went to the workplace medic.I thought something was "wrong".
He inspected it and told me I had the beginnings of Carpal Tunnel....I had just read the Mindbody prescription and knew Carpal Tunnel was a TMS symptom,so I was immediately relieved and went back to work and focused on what was bothering me....My boss and a few of his "pets" were disappearing after lunch(too many cocktails) and I kept getting left alone to do ALL the work.
Than,as I recall,I got some sort of virus.....and of course the numbness went away.In retrospect,I think my immune system was probably the 'next' thing for the rage to convert to....TMS is amazing...it'll try anything.
so...what is triggerfinger???
Baseball65
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| Baseball65 |
Posted - 01/25/2005 : 17:30:10
Hello Worldtraveler
What exactly is Triggerfinger??
One of my Symptoms I've had in the past is a completely numb thumb,all the way up to the wrist.Not painful...more like a scary nuisance...certainly distracting.
The worst it ever got was on a job where I had to sand,by hand ,all day long.When it got so numb I could stick a pin in it,I went to the workplace medic.I thought something was "wrong".
He inspected it and told me I had the beginnings of Carpal Tunnel....I had just read the Mindbody prescription and knew Carpal Tunnel was a TMS symptom,so I was immediately relieved and went back to work and focused on what was bothering me....My boss and a few of his "pets" were disappearing after lunch(too many cocktails) and I kept getting left alone to do ALL the work.
Than,as I recall,I got some sort of virus.....and of course the numbness went away.In retrospect,I think my immune system was probably the 'next' thing for the rage to convert to....TMS is amazing...it'll try anything.
so...what is triggerfinger???
Baseball65 |
| Tunza |
Posted - 01/25/2005 : 13:03:24
Hi Rick,
It sounds like from the reaction of the doctor that it could be TMS.
I'm not sure exactly what trigger finger is like but I do have a thunb that locks up and feels uncomfortable and weak until it snaps back to normal. This happens almost every day when I am using my hairdryer (weird as it hardly ever happens otherwise - conditioning?). Anyway, the thumb is not sore at any other time.
BUT quite a few of my joints have become very clicky and clunky over the past decade and the sites that are the most prone to this are now the sites where I have pain. For example my clunky shoulders that catch, pop and snap now have tendonitis (a couple of years ago I tried to swin regularly and pushed my arms through the catching. Have had pain in them ever since). My achilles have recently been troubling me. My left achilles and both elbows have a really dramatic snap sometimes (eg if I'm holding a book with my elbow crooked and then I go to straighten my arm to put it down there is a loud crack which is painful as I force it through but the crack releases most of the pain).
I don't know if the TMS puts pain in these sites to try and make me think the pain is structural. Well that can't ben the whole story. The catching must also be TMS because it is distracting enough on it's own. I don't mean ordinary joint popping I mean the locking up.
UK James's posts re his back clunking disappearing have given me hope but I would love to hear from more people out there who'd recovered from multiple tendonitis.
I have avoided cortisone since I was given an injection in my right elbow when I was first diagnosed with RSI (repetitive strain injury). The pain went away but then came back worse than ever and I have been told that cortisone should be a last resort as it can weaken the area it is injected into.
Something that cheers me up in that Dr Sarno includes coccydnia (sp?) or tailbone pain in his discussion of TMS tendonitis. About 4 years ago I had a really sore tailbone for about 5 months. I hadn't fallen or anything it just came on, intesifying over a few days until it was sore to sit for any length of time. It really affected my life as travelling in the car or sitting at work or in the movies etc was really uncomfortable. Then one day I realised it had gone, for no reason it had just stopped. It has never returned (although I have lots of other equivalents). Back then I didn't know about TMS but looking back it is so obvious that's what it was. Dr Sarno says it's the tendons that attach to the tailbone that are the site of the pain not the bone itself.
I've had success with back/buttock/sciatic type pain and hayfever and I am working on TMS thinking with the tendonitis but it's quite a challenge.
Kat |
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